Of great to concern to wine connoisseurs is the proper handling and decanting of their wine bottles to ensure that proper taste, aroma and texture are preserved. Typically, during the aging process, wine bottles rest on their sides at a slight angle for months, years, or even decades, during which time sediment settles out of the wine. Standing a bottle during opening causes the sediment to return into suspension, which alters the taste of the wine. As stated by Bob Dickinson in his article “Demolishing a Decanting Myth” (Bob Dickinson, Demolishing a Decanting Myth, Wine Spectator, Jul. 31, 2005, at 109), sediment, lees, or particulates (referred to herein collectively as “sediment” for clarity) may make wine “inherently bitter and mask[ ] the flavor of the wine.” Some in the prior art have developed techniques and devices for removing sediment prior to consumption of the wine.
One method of reducing the amount of sediment present in a glass of wine is to decant the wine. Decanting involves pouring the wine from its original bottle into another receptacle, typically a decanter. The pouring process is stopped immediately prior to when the sediment present in the original bottle would flow into the receptacle.
While proper decanting can significantly reduce the amount of sediment poured into the receptacle, it is critical that the pouring process be closely monitored. Because the general presumption is to under-pour, rather than risk introducing sediment into the decanter, 10-15% of the fluid volume of the wine is frequently left in the original bottle. While that percentage loss may not seem substantial, it represents a significant financial loss and diminishment of the potential enjoyment that would have been derived from the wine.
As can be seen in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20020108672 to Morrison, one prior art approach utilizes pumping and/or pressurized systems to transfer the fluid content of the wine bottle into a receptacle. Morrison uses a complex combination of a siphon, a pump, and a support to draw the wine away from the sediment and into the receptacle unit. While the Morrison system can reduce the amount of sediment introduced into the receptacle, Morrison does not allow the wine pourer to visually inspect and monitor the wine during decanting. Thus, there is still a chance that sediment may be introduced.
Another attempt at reducing the amount of sediment introduced into the receptacle is described in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20040035296 to Schaus. The Schaus method utilizes a centrifugal device at the beginning stages of the winemaking process. This centrifugal device separates out the sediment present at that time. However, this process does not account for sediment that develops during aging. This process also does not allow the wine pourer to visually inspect and monitor the wine during decanting.
Still others have attempted to reduce the amount of sediment introduced into the receptacle by illuminating at least a portion of the wine as it is poured from the bottle. Some of these illuminating apparatuses involve complex arrangements of pulleys and hand-operated levers, such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,868,047 to Bersano. Others, such as the decanting apparatus described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,026,480 to Fischer, incorporate the light into a curved carrier into which both the wine bottle and decanter are placed. Still others, such as the illuminating device illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 6,174,066 to Vinding-Diers, incorporate the light into an apparatus that attaches to the wine bottle at multiple points, and which is also used as a handle.